A day after a Dalit teenager was murdered in Uttarakhand’s Tehri Garhwal district, his father made shocking allegations about how he was tortured. The 18-year-old girl died after being beaten up by the family of an upper-caste girl.
According to the news agency PTIthe two were in a relationship for about six months. On Sunday night, the victim received a phone call from the girl and asked him to come to her village in Pratapgarh block, Hulgarh.
After the victim arrived there with a friend, they were locked inside a room and assaulted. His family has now made serious allegations of torture:
- Deep bruises on the victim’s body, covering his back, chest and limbs.
- Pliers were used to pluck the teen’s fingernails and toenails.
- Nails were driven into his feet.
- He suffered serious injuries to his reproductive organs.
- Assaulting the victim and his friend with sticks.
The death caused a huge uproar in Tehri Garhwal. The victim’s family and local residents staged a protest outside the hospital, accusing the police of failing to arrest the attackers. The father even said that a video of the assault was circulating on social media and had been seen by everyone gathered at the hospital.
The family refused to accept his body for last rites until all his attackers were arrested.
“I will not take the body from here until all the culprits are arrested, even if it takes four or ten days,” Dhanpal Lal said. “I am a poor man. I do not have the resources to wander through the courts for years. I want justice here. Only then will I take my son’s body.”
The victim, aged 18, belonged to the Scheduled Caste community and was in a relationship with a minor daughter from an upper caste family.
So far, two people have been arrested in the case and further investigations are underway, Tehri Police Chief Inspector Shweta Chaubey said. Furthermore, evidence was obtained from the crime scene.
(With PTI inputs).
